Girls und Panzer: Ishikuma Special Girls' High School
by TheGreatDutchman
Summary: Ishikuma Special Girls' High School is a special ed. school in Japan for girls who need to overcome mental disabilities, but if they can do so, are some of the smartest girls in the entire country. The story revolves around Ina, her sister and her friends. They will do Sensha-dou at the school, and will participate in the national Sensha-dou league.
1. Chapter 1: Bowl of Hope and Happiness

" _Everything will be alright."_ , Ina reassured herself. " _It can't be that bad, can it? It's just my first day at high school."_

Ina was very anxious about going to high school, even if she tried to convince herself she wasn't. It was the first time she was at a school this big, being born in a small town in central Honshu.

It also was her first time on a carrier, which only made it more uncomfortable for her. She was not used to the waves, the subtle rocking of the ship's hull and the fresh air filled with thousands of birds, flying around.

She kept thinking about it while walking to Ishikuma Special Girls' High School, her new high school.

However, it was not a "normal" high school. It was a special ed. school, for adolescents with mental handicaps. It would give more support to the children, often catered to their specific needs, in order to have them reach the same standard of other children, and often even higher ones.

Five years ago, Ina had been diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder, a lighter variant of autism. She was glad to go to a school that had extra support for her and could help her reach her fullest potential, something that other high schools would not be capable and experienced enough to do. Her needs were too different than the ones of any other student.

She stopped walking all of a sudden. A thought had popped up in her mind. " _I forgot my ball at home."_. Ina stood still, not moving an inch, and started thinking about what she would do. If she went back home to get her "ball", that being her stim toy, she would be too late for the introduction. That would be unacceptable. She couldn't be late for the first day of school! But she knew that she would be so anxious that she would need it.

More thoughts: " _You're such an idiot, such a stupid, stupid little girl."_

Those had been words said by one of the bullies at her old school. More and more memories returned from back then, from the years of bullying she had endured. These words created little holes in what her mom called " **The bowl of hope and happiness"**. Through the years there had been so many holes created, it was more like a colander.

Any hope or happiness that entered would leave it immediately, through the "holes". It was how her mother tried to explain the depression Ina had. As she remembered more and more things, anxiety started to build. She couldn't handle it anymore. She wanted to go home, but also wanted to continue going to school. She was completely overwhelmed with thoughts and fear of the consequences. Either be late for school, be frowned upon, insulted and bullied like she had been for years, or stay like this all day without her stim toy.

"Ina!",

Ina heard someone call her name, and was startled. She tried to hide her tears. "What happened? Are you alright?".

Ina was too scared to respond, but made a futile attempt to do so anyways. "I- I'm al... alright."

She then looked to the ground, trying to avoid eye contact. She didn't want to interact with anyone at the moment.

The girl then crouched in front of her, trying to get below her face and be able to look her in the eyes. It was her older sister, Satomi, is a third-year student at Ishikuma High.

"I noticed you left your stim toy at the table after breakfast, and wanted to catch up with you before you were at school."

Satomi opened her hand and put the toy in it. "I thought you would need it today."

Ina, stuttering a bit less now, responded with a slight smile of relief. "Th- thank you, Satomi-chan".

She grabbed her handkerchief and wiped away some of her tears, despite looking like she had cried, and walked towards her new school with Satomi.

Ina explained what had happened, and thanked Satomi again for bringing it. Maybe she was worrying a bit too much about it. If anything happened she could always fall back on her sister. They arrived just in time.

She sighed. Now it was time to meet everyone, the student council, her neighbors and everyone. So many new people, everything was different. She was scared thinking about it. Her life would be so different. Everything. Anxiety grew again, and she started using her stim toy.

She walked into the main hall of the school, where two hundred seats were placed. She noticed it was in ten rows of twenty, but most seats in front being occupied, she sat down somewhere on the ninth row, counting from the front.

After some time of introductions, names she forgot almost immediately, the keys were distributed: she would be in campus nine, room seven. She looked around, and counted the seats. She sat in the ninth row, on the seventh seat, going from left to right. It was an interesting coincidence.

But also the fourteenth seat, if you went from right to left. And the second row counting from the back. It seemed to only be coincidence if you looked at it a certain way.

There were ten campuses with twenty rooms each; at least for the first years. Each campus also formed a class; a class in which she would follow most of the mandatory subjects. The classes were smaller than in other Japanese schools; this allowed for greater support to individual students.

But other than the mandatory classes, you also had to join a club. There were many, but one in particular interested her; Sensha-dou. The art of tankery. She had loved tanks since she was a little kid, the mechanics, how the tanks worked, how many different kinds there were; it was her special interest. She knew everything there was about tanks. Names, designers and design dates, variants and the differences between them. It was clear she would join the Sensha-dou club.

Every campus also had a couple of mental health experts. After the instructions, Ina had to follow them. They would show her the way to her campus, her new home. She would be alone for the very first time. She would have to become independent. However, she would get support at first with that. They would teach her new things, help her as much as possible, and then slowly help her less and less, until she could do it alone. It was standard practice for dealing with students who have Asperger's Syndrome.

After 10 minutes of walking, the group arrived at Campus 9, and were shown around by the mental health experts. It was shaped like a square, surrounded by walls. But the walls were the rooms. Twenty-four in total, despite the campus only having twenty rooms. She thought it was odd, but during the tour it became clear these were the offices of the mental health team.

The first thing Ina did after the tour, was go to her room. She wanted to know how it looked.

Ina grabbed the key, put it in the lock and turned it to the right. _Click._ And the door was now unlocked. Anxiety was growing again. She paused for a dozen of seconds, took a deep breath, and then entered the room.

She saw a lot of things. A kitchen, a bed, all sorts of counters, boxes which held her things and a pen on a table, next to a pile of papers. She walked over to the table, sat down on a chair and started reading the papers. It was a bunch of information, most importantly her timetable and a form. On the form, she had to enter which club she wanted to join. Without a second of thought, she chose Sensha-dou.

Then, she had to unpack. She didn't know how to do so. There were three boxes. But with which one should she start? Where did she have to put her stuff? So many questions, so little answers. Anxiety started building up again. She didn't know what to do. She started stimming. Rocking her leg, biting her nails, squeezing her ball. And then…

 _ **Knock knock.**_

Someone knocked on her door. What to do? She didn't know who it was. Should she open the door? Should she act like she's not here? No, they know she is here. She has to open the door.

Ina stood up, still squeezing her ball, and walked over to the door. After taking a deep breath, she opened it, and looked who was there.

It was Satomi. She was relieved it was just her sister.

"Hey Ina! Is it a problem if I help you unpack?", Satomi asked.

Ina was still anxious, but she shook her head positively.

"Ah, great!", within seconds, Satomi was inside and walked over to the nearest box and opened it.

"It seems like you didn't do anything for this past hour. Are you sure that you're alright?", Satomi asked.

" _Hour? It has been an hour already?"_ Ina couldn't believe that she had been stimming for that long.

"Yes, I was just thinking about what club to join." Ina quickly responded, and joined Satomi in emptying the first box.

After another thirty minutes of work, all the boxes had been emptied. Satomi sat down on Ina's bed.

" _What now. Do I offer her a drink? Is that appropriate? Or do I just sit down next to her?"_ Ina thought.  
After a couple seconds of thinking, she chose the former.

"Would you like a drink?", Ina asked her sister.

Satomi accepted her offer. "Yes, I'd like a glass of water."

Ina prepared two drinks; one for her sister and one for herself. She sat down next to Satomi. They drank and talked a bit. It was mostly listening to her sister talking about how much she loved the school, and how she hoped that Ina would spend time with her now that they're finally together again.

She then asked: "What club are you going to join?"

Ina tried to respond, but was cut off by her sister before she could do so. "I know already, you're going to do Sensha-dou!"

Satomi knew her little sister too well.

"So we'll be together!" Satomi looked really excited. She had missed Ina, it seemed.

 _ **Knock knock.**_

Ina was startled by the sound. She quickly walked over to the door, and opened. It was her psychologist.

"We are assembling in the square in five minutes." The psychologist then walked on, to the next door. Satomi excused herself and rushed back to her campus. She would have to assemble too, it seemed.

Ina went to the square. The mental health team was offering a lunch to the new students. After eating some delicious soup, the team had to do another thing; meetings with the students. They would have a fifteen minute talk with every single one of the students. When the last one had had her meeting, they would help the students gather ingredients for dinner and cook it.

Ina was the seventh student to have her meeting. It was nothing out of the ordinary: just meeting the psychologists, with everyone telling a little bit about themselves. It was over fairly quickly. Then, she had over three hours until they would do anything else. Three hours. Ina didn't know what she could do. After some thinking, she decided to go exploring the school. Maybe she'd find something interesting.

After 30 minutes of looking around, Ina found it. The Sensha-dou club. She saw tanks. A KV-1, BT-7, Panzer II Ausf. H., Ram II, and a SU-122. A diverse range of tanks for sure. A heavy tank, a medium tank, two light tanks and a SPG. She walked around, in amazement. Then she opened the cupola of the KV-1 and sat down in it. Her favourite tank. A Russian heavy tank, so strong that no German panzer could penetrate it for 2 years. It was one of the best tanks of the war. She could go on about it for hours. She looked around more. She found pictures, pictures of teams, of battles. She was completely absorbed. Before she knew it, it started to get late. She would have to go back to the campus, as much as it would disappoint her to leave this place. But she'd be back.

It was evening. Ina just had eaten her dinner. The time was 7 PM, so she would have 3 hours before the lights would have to be turned off. She didn't know what to do next. She could go back to the tanks, but was tired. It had been a long day. On the other hand, she could go to bed early, but that would mean she'd only wake up earlier the next day.

Ina grabbed a notebook and started drawing. Drawing tanks, formations, tactics. Soon it was 10 PM. She'd have to stop drawing. With nothing to do, Ina showered and went to bed. It had been a long day for her. Tomorrow, school would start, and she would need to be well rested for that.


	2. Chapter 2: Like her

Ina was lying in bed, sleeping. A little bit of light had been slipping into the room, but it didn't disturb her, neither it woke her up. Ina liked her bed. It was comfy. Next to her lay a boko, an old one. Old as Methuselah; eyes had fallen off, its colours had faded away, but that didn't matter to Ina; she loved her Boko. She got it on her fifth birthday, and has had it ever since, sleeping with it every single night.

Sleeping tight, she didn't know what was going to happen soon. Innocent, she didn't know what terror her alarm clock would be, in just a couple of seconds.

 **BOOM.**

Ina screamed and quickly hid under her bedsheets, hiding from whatever danger was there. Then, she realised: it was her alarm clock. Her sister had played a trick on her and set it to the "explosion" sound, and increased its volume to its maximum. After all, she was the one who unpacked it, and Ina never used that sound. It was way too loud for her ears.

She got up and put on her school uniform. A white shirt with a dark blue vest over it, and a skirt of the same colour. She thought it fit well with her long, black hair. Then, she got stuck. Normally, her mother was there to eat breakfast with her. But now, she lived alone. No mother to eat breakfast with. She would miss her mother. And her father too. And the family dog… She would miss all of them.

Ina sat down on a chair, thinking about what she should make for breakfast. Normally, she would have a simple bowl of muesli. But did she even have muesli? She stood up, and walked to the cupboard where she left her food. No muesli. She then walked to the fridge; she only had some milk. Ina then realised that she had only taken food for dinner, and felt incredibly stupid.

One glass of milk. That would be her breakfast for today. Maybe she could find something to eat on the way to school. Her bag was heavy, filled with books, notebooks and other things she'd need. She walked towards her school, but with a quick stop at a conbini to get something for breakfast. She bought a fruit bar and ate it on her way to school. Her first **real** school day.

One person. There was one person in class… she was quite early. She sat down in one of the seats near the front, as she wanted to be able to pay attention easily. Within the next minutes, the eighteen other girls walked into the class, and the teacher followed shortly after.

After some quick introductions, the door opened, and a girl walked into a room. It was one of the people in the student council; she was there to gather the forms on the optional classes the girls wanted to follow. Ina then realised she had forgotten her form at her home. She didn't know what to tell the councillor.

As the councillor went around, taking in the forms, a girl said she had forgot her form. The student councillor softly smiled at her, like she was trying comfort her, and gave her a blank form.

"It's alright. Just fill this one in.", the student councillor told the girl.

Ina sighed in relief. It would be no problem. She was worrying without reason. It likely was a common occurrence that students would forget their forms.

Ina also filled in a new form, and the councillor went on to other classes, and the class resumed.

A couple of hours later, it was time for lunch. Ina was ravenous. The fruit bar was not enough to bring her through the morning. She got her food and sat down somewhere, alone. She was too shy to sit down with someone else. As the places in the lunch area filled, an average-sized girl with shoulder-length brown hair sat down next to her. She recognized her; it was the girl who forgot her form in class.

"Umm… hello", the girl said.

There was a silence, as Ina didn't know how to respond.

"O-oh, sorry.", the girl excused herself and started to leave.

"No, no. I need to be sorry, for not responding.". Ina felt bad for the girl. "You can sit here if you want."

The girl sat back down, almost happy that she didn't make Ina angry.

Ina continued: "What's your name?"

"Miyamoto Yume", the girl answered. "And yours is?"

"Kobayashi Ina", the black-haired girl replied.

After talking to Miyamoto-san for the rest of the lunch break, it was time for the introductory class of sensha-dou. The first ever time that Ina would be in an actual operational tank. Ina was incredibly excited to go.

She was one of the first ones there. As more and more of the girls who chose sensha-dou arrived, Ina started losing her patience. She was too excited. Couldn't it start already!

Then she noticed Miyamoto-san. She chose sensha-dou as well, it seemed.

Ina heard a sound in the distance; a roaring engine. Then she heard 4 more. The five tanks drove onto the grounds, and in the center was the KV-1. She wanted to be in the KV-1. The tanks stopped in front of the group of girls. Most importantly for Ina, Satomi opened the driver's hatch of the KV-1. She seemed to be it's driver.

Someone who seemed to be a teacher started talking a minute later. Telling things about sensha-dou and tanks in general that Ina completely ignored. She was too focused on the tanks. She only heard one thing from the ten minute talk: "Four spots need to be filled in the KV-1".

Four spots. Commander, loader, gunner and radio operator. The driver would be Satomi. The girls were instructed to choose tanks. Ina almost ran towards the KV-1. If she was there first, she would have to get a spot. She also noticed Miyamoto-san and two other girls walking towards it. They had their five crew members.

"Hello, I'm Kobayashi Satomi, the driver of this tank. May I ask you for your names?"

A tall girl with long, reddish hair quickly responded: "Hayashi Noriko."

Then, a second girl responded. She looked a lot like Miyamoto-san, but her hair was black, and she was slightly smaller. "My name is Kita Yuuki."

It was Ina's turn now. But before she could say anything, Satomi started talking. "And this is my little sister, Kobayashi Ina!", she then put an arm over Ina's shoulder.

Miyamoto-san, silent and shy as she is, went last: "I'm Miyamoto Yume."

Satomi then gave everyone a role: She would be driver, Noriko would be the gunner, Yuuki would be the radio operator, Yume would be the loader and Ina would be the commander. Then she prepared the team for the upcoming practice match. Ina didn't know there would be one; she didn't pay attention to what the teacher said.

The tanks moved to their positions. The match would take place in a hilly, forested area; all tanks at least one kilometer from each other. Ina would have to give commands for this. She had never done such a thing; why did her sister put her in such a position?

Ina looked at the map. The closest tanks would be the Panzer II H and the and the Ram II. The Ram II two had good armour and a decent gun, and it would be the greatest threat to them. It would have to be taken out first.

And the signal was given; the match had started. Ina's very first match.

"Go to the tall hill north-east of here. We are taking out the Ram II.", she commanded Satomi.

The tank started driving, and Ina opened the cupola, looking. She saw a tree falling over in the distance; a tank had driven against it, most likely. She then heard a shot in the distance. It was loud, likely the SU-122. It had the largest caliber gun of the bunch, but that didn't mean it was the best.

Three minutes later, the tank was on top of the hill. It was one of the tallest ones in the area. They could see far, but they didn't see any tanks.

 **BANG.**

And the KV-1 shook. They had been hit by something. Ina looked out of the cupola. And there it was, almost completely behind them, hidden in the bushes; the Panzer II H. It was an incredibly fast light tank, at least twice as fast as the KV-1. It had caught up with them, and now was behind them.

"Turn the turret! Beh-"

 **BANG.**

The Panzer II fired again at the tank, but didn't seem to penetrate it's armour. That itself wasn't a weird thing, the KV-1 had incredibly strong armour, at least 70mm of steel all around.

Ina continued: "Behind us, 5 o' clock."

The turret started turning, and Ina was waiting for the next shot. But when the turret had finally turned, the Panzer II H was gone.

Ina heard another shot in the distance, then got a lot of dirt in her face. The shell had just barely missed them. After the dust went away, she saw it. The Ram II had shot at them.

"Turn the tank to the left, Hayashi-san, turn the turret to 40 degrees from center.", Ina commanded.

To her surprise, Hayashi did exactly that; 40 degrees, not a thousandth of a degree off.

Now, her tank was angled. It was safe from the shots that the Ram would fling at it, at least from the angle it was at.

"Ok, take fire at the Ram II.", she commanded.

"The gun can't go down more. I can't take aim properly.", the gunner responded.

Ina then knew what was wrong: Russian tanks had horrible gun depression. They could not aim down much. She got stressed, and didn't know what to do.

Satomi, seeing her sister's stress, took the initiative drove forward a bit, down hill.

 **BOOM… BANG.**

And Hayashi fired at the Ram II, and from the sound of it, hit it too.

She looked out of the tank, and saw the white flag coming out of the Ram II. It had been taken out. Ina then got a rush. The rush of taking out a tank. They had done it; they had taken out their first tank. It felt so good. She completely had forgotten about the Panzer II that was driving around.

Another shot in the distance, the SU-122 again.

 **BANG.**

And the KV-1 was hit again, saved by it's incredibly thick armour. Was it the SU-122? Or the Panzer II again? It could also be the BT-5. She probably was going crazy. They couldn't be under fire from 4 tanks at the same time, could they? She saw a tree fall over in front of the KV-1.

"Drive forwards so we can investigate, but keep our tank angled.", Ina commanded.

She looked outside the cupola.

It was the BT-7, driving straight at the KV-1, likely thinking their armour would be enough to take on any gun.

Taking the light tank out was easy. They had to aim the gun, hit the tank anywhere and it would be taken down. And that's exactly what happened, they shot it and a white flag appeared. Two tanks down, three left.

Another shot of the SU-122 in the distance. And this time coming towards them, likely spotting them taking down the BT-7. The tank being angled, the shot simply bounced off. No damage done at to the KV-1 at all. She ordered Hayashi to shoot, and so she did, hitting the SPG at a distance of over 1km. She seemed to be a skilled gunner, or maybe she just had luck with her shots.

 **BANG.**

The KV-1 shook. Ina got out of the cupola, and saw the Panzer II right next to their tank. It had flanked them. The white flag came out of the engine of the KV-1… it had been taken out by the Panzer II. The match was over. The Panzer II had won.

Ina was shocked. She completely forgot about the Panzer II, she was so focused on taking out the other tanks.

"I-I'm sorry", the commander said. "I forgot about the Panzer II"

Satomi, seeing the distress of her sister, responded after 5 seconds or so.  
"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes", she paused. "We may not have won, but the Panzer II only did because we took out the three other tanks before it flanked us!", she continued. "Winning is not the most important thing anyhow. It's about fun, learning, spending time with your team! Winning is just a nice addition you have sometimes."

Ina knew her sister was right. They didn't have to win. Winning was just a dessert to the main dish of fun, friendship and learning. Sometimes, she was envious of her sister. Satomi was wise, intelligent and independent… all things she was not. However, in her admiration she'd often forget that her sister had the exact same mental disability she had. But she had overcome it. And that is what Ina would do too. She would become great, just like her.

Just before class ended, Satomi invited the KV-1 crew over to her room, which was the S311 (Seniors, Campus 3, eleventh room), for dinner. She also recommended them to tell the mental health team people just to make sure they didn't go looking for the students thinking something went wrong. With them, they wanted to know what the students did, as most of them weren't _too_ stable.

After informing the medical team, she went to her sister's place. It was on the other side of the school; it took almost fifteen minutes to walk there. When she got there, her sister was already preparing dinner.

"Hmm, it smells delicious!", Ina told her sister.

"It's soon to be ready!" the latter replied.

Ina sat down, and waited for the other girls to come over. First there was Yuuki, then Yume and Noriko. The crew was complete, and Satomi brought the plates.

"Itadakimasu!", the five girls said in unison. After such a tiring practice session, they were ravenous. For the first two minutes, there was silence, except for the subtle sounds of the girls eating.

"Tasty, isn't it?", Satomi said, trying to start a conversation.

"It is.", her little sister responded, before taking another bite of the food. She tried to hide her anxiety; she never spent any time with people and didn't know how to act. The others didn't seem to know how to either. It ended up being a long, awkward silence as no one knew how to start the interaction. It didn't come naturally either, as they had met each other only that day.

"Thank you for the food.", Yume told Satomi, with the other girls following her example and saying the same thing.

When the girls had left, Satomi started crying. "What did I do wrong? Did they not like the food? Did I say anything weird?"

"It's okay.", Ina said, trying to comfort her sister. "They were just nervous. Or maybe they enjoyed the food so much they didn't want to talk!".

Ina didn't know how to deal with the situation. She hadn't seen her sister like this yet. Anxiety started building. She didn't have her ball. She couldn't start stimming because her sister would notice. What to do. Should she hug her?

Ina got in closer to her sister, attempting to start making a hug. But before she could, her sister almost jumped into her arms. She really accepted the hug, crying into Ina's vest.

Satomi hugged her extremely tightly, saying things that were completely unintelligible through the all the crying.

After four long minutes, Satomi finally stopped hugging Ina. It felt awkward for Ina, trying to calm down her idol, the person she looked up to, her older sister. Usually it was the other way around, Satomi standing up for her, calming her and defending her.

"You can go home if you want.", Satomi told her little sister. "You probably still have things to do." To Ina it was clear Satomi wanted her to leave; they were very much alike in that regard.

"Thank you for the hug", mentioned Satomi just before Ina left. "I needed it."

"It's no problem", the younger sis responded. "You've done the same for me, after all."

When Ina got home, she went to bed immediately. She was completely drained. School, the match and her time with Satomi had been very tiring. She cuddled her Boko, and even though she had insomnia, fell asleep in mere minutes. Another day lay ahead of her, and she hoped it'd be more cheerful than this one...


	3. Chapter 3: Chihatan Trouble

Ina walked out of the room in which she had to do a test for Sensha-dou. She wondered why they even existed, as the credits for Sensha-dou were based upon the teams' performance in the games, and the personal input in the trainings and battles.

But as the test started, she realised what it was: a test about Sensha-dou, to find a overall commander of the team. The old commander had graduated the year before, and as such the position was vacant.

It was a test with many questions about how you think a commander should behave and how you would respond to certain situations. Everyone had to make it, but not many made it to the final selection process; only three people would make it. All the tanks had been fitted with a recording device in the first match, to see how the people reacted in battle and behaved themselves; they wanted to make a good choice.

A week later, the people who made it to the final selection process had been announced.

Ina was one of them, and then two third year students: the commander of the Panzer II H and the gunner of the SU-122. Two experienced, battle-hardened and intelligent people, one of which had managed to win the practice match with her sneaky plan.

To decide who would become commander, more practice matches would be planned. The national sensha-dou league would only start later in the year, the teams had plenty of time to do this. The very first was versus Chihatan, and Ina would have command in it. Then, two other matches against for now unknown opponents would be done.

She sat down at a table, and looked at a map of the region the fight would take place. A small town surrounded by hills. She knew Chihatan would try to charge at them, and considered moving onto one of the hills and just waiting for them to charge at them, uphill, slow and exposed. That is what they would do. Just wait for them and overwhelm them with firepower.

More days passed as Ina got anxious about the match. The very first match versus a different school, and she had to command. Luckily, Chihatan wasn't one of the strongest schools around. It was very much the equal of Ishikuma: not strong, but could still win a match if underestimated. And that is not what Ina would do. She would try to win.

But what if they wouldn't? No, they wouldn't win. They would be crushed, defeated and humiliated. All because of Ina it'll all be her fault. She only ruined things. Never did anything right.

"Damn it Ina, you ruined it again! I hate you!".

Ina started crying. More memories came back to her.

"Oh, are you crying? Maybe you shouldn't have done it, you stupid, stupid little girl!"

Ina looked around. She saw a knife. She could end it, all her pain, all the stress, the hell that was her life. End it right now. Still crying, she walked over to the table and grabbed the knife.

"Should I do it?", she thought. It'd be so easy. Just cut open her neck, arm or any other part of her body, and she'd be dead in minutes.

Ina cried more, knife in hand. Suicidal thoughts kept popping up, more and more reasons to do it. She looked around, and saw her Boko. The one her Satomi gave her when she was just five years old. She thought about her sister. Sadness came and sadness went, but Satomi always tried to improve, and pulled through. If Satomi could do it, could she also?

Ina lied down on bed, still crying, and cuddled her Boko, imagining there was someone that she was cuddling, trying to comfort her. But there wasn't. She was all alone. After an half-hour of crying, Ina fell asleep, so tired of all the crying and sadness. She dreamed about not being alone, having a good friend that could care for her in her bad times. Someone who would always be there for her…

A couple of days later, it was time for the match versus Chihatan. Chihatan had brought 10 tanks; almost all of which were variants of the Japanese type 97 Chi-Ha. They were outnumbered two to one. This is not something Ina had planned for, but she accepted it anyways.

"Hey!", Ina heard someone shout. "Are you Kobayashi Ina?"

She looked around, and saw a girl walk towards her. She was fairly tall and had long, fair black hair. Ina then knew who it was: Nishi Kinuyo, commander of Chihatan. When looking up information on Chihatan, she saw pictures of the commander on the internet. But this was the first time seeing her in real life.

"I'm Nishi Kinuyo, commander of Chihatan.", Kinuyo said as she stopped near her.

Ina was not sure how she should respond to the greeting of the opposing commander.

"Oh, h- hello. I'm K- Kobay- yashi Ina.", she stuttered in response. She quickly grabbed her ball and started squeezing it violently.

"May I ask what that ball is for?", the Chihatan commander asked Ina.

Ina, feeling a bit more comfortable now that she has her ball again. "It's against anxiety."

"I usually have it on me for situations like these", she added quickly.

"Oh, that's pretty interesting!" Kinuyo replied. "I never thought such things existed."

Ina and Kinuyo talked for another ten minutes, until the Chihatan commander had to leave to talk to her sub-commanders and her team. Ina decided to do the same. She had to explain her strategy. She looked at the tanks. She had five to beat Chihatan's ten. It seemed impossible to win. They would have to fight very carefully. It was an elimination battle. The battle would be over when all tanks of one side would be inoperable.

After the greetings had been exchanged, the teams moved to their starting positions. There was about ten kilometres between the two teams. It would be a long match, but Ina was prepared. When the match started, she ordered the Panzer II and BT-7 to go ahead on max gears. They would race to the town that Chihatan would either have to pass through or pass by. She had planned an ambush there.

The main force, the KV-1, Ram II and SU-122 pushed forwards to the hill overlooking the town. As soon as they arrived at the hill, 2 kilometres from the town and another two from where Chihatan should pop up, she looked at the town. She saw nothing. The ambush force got there in time. She then saw the Chihatan force pop-up, driving down the hill, straight into the town. Everything was going according to plan. But nothing could be more true.

"Panzer II to KV-1, we have been taken out!", Ina heard only seconds later. The Panzer II was down? How could that have happened? Did they get discovered? Is the BT-7 in danger? Thoughts were rushing through Ina's head about the situation.

"BT to KV, we took out one of them, but have been discovered. We are now retreating west out of the town." Ina sighed in relief. Not all may be lost just yet. She ordered the other tanks to turn their turrets west and aim in the general direction of where the BT should appear from. And after a minute, it rushed out of the town at insane speeds, being followed by three Chihatan tanks.

"Fire at will", Ina told her sub-commanders. "Noriko, hit the Chi-Ha in the back of the column. Satomi, angle the tank. Yume, be ready to reload.", she continued after turning off the microphone of her radio. Meanwhile, Ina opened the cupola, got out and looked into the town with her binoculars. She wanted to see if the 6 other thanks were in the town.

The KV-1 rumbled heavily as Noriko fired the gun, hitting the back Chi-Ha in the engine. Noriko was a really skilled gunner, as she was a perfectionist, patient and intelligent enough to make out distance effectively. Ina was not that skilled; she didn't see the difference between 100 metres and two kilometres.

"SU and Ram, please load a HE shell.", Ina commanded "Noriko, please wait for when the smoke and dust clears before firing again."

"KV to BT, wait until we've fired HE shells in front of the two enemy tanks, turn around and attempt to take out the back tank."

Ina watched the two HE shells fly over to the enemy tanks, landing in front of them. The BT made a sharp turn to their left and then got on the back of the enemy tanks, taking full advantage of the dust screen that had been created. When the dust had mostly faded, they fired at the back Chi-ha, hitting it in the engine. Noriko then fired and took out the middle.

Ishikuma was turning this battle into their favour. Ina was already dreaming about winning. But she was dreaming too a lot too soon. Six shots came out of the town, all aimed at the BT-7. It had been taken out. It was now six Chihatan tanks versus three Ishikuma tanks. And Chihatan held the town, and was hidden inside it.

Ina started thinking. Maybe they could just wait until Chihatan charged up the hill. But would they be fooling enough to do so? Charging into a numerically superior enemy, in urban combat was just a horrible idea for so many reasons. She looked at a map. Chihatan was hidden inside the town, but she did not know where. Maybe they could find out by scouting some more.

"SU and Ram, go to the hills to the west of the town and east of the town respectively." Ina hoped to find out the position of some of the enemy tanks like this. Ina wasn't sure if she could win this. She got out of the cupola again, looking out. The SU was trying to get there by going down the hill.

"KV to SU, get back up the hill, quickly! You are exposed there!", she commanded over the radio. But the damage had already been done. With the SU struggling to get up the hill, it was shot by one of the Chihatan tanks in the town. Two tanks left. Just two. Two tanks, to beat six enemy tanks, hiding in the town.

"Ram to KV, we are in position. We cannot see any enemy tanks.".

They couldn't see any tanks. The scouting mission had been a failure, they lost another tank doing it, they were now outnumbered three to one and they had a geographical disadvantage. There was nothing they could do. Thoughts built again, more and more of them. Constantly harsher, meaner, more destructive. Ina squeezed her ball violently.

Yume looked at her friend, hearing Ina squeeze the ball. Ina was visibly worried about the situation. Yume wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how. Should she just tell her it will all be alright? No, that doesn't fit the situation. That she'll do her best to have the team win? Would that make sense? Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.

"U-umm. Don't worry Kobayashi-san, I'll do my best to have us win! They may outnumber us, but we have your leadership and our great tanks! Our KV's armour is so thick that almost none of their guns will be able to penetrate it!", Yume said.

"Can't penetrate our armour? How could I forget? The KV-1 has armour so strong that the Chi-Ha has tremendous difficulty penetrating it!", Ina remembered.

"Thank you Yume, for the idea!", the commander told the loader. "Satomi, we will drive downhill, into the enemy. Be sure to keep the armour angled. Like this they cannot penetrate our thick armour."

"KV to Ram, stay in position and keep attention to the town. We are charging in.", Ina informed, as they went down the hill and high speeds. A great charge in a match with Chihatan, but this time it was not Chihatan that did it, it was it's opponent. That probably didn't happen often, Ina thought. But it did happen now, even if it was in desperation. This was their only chance at winning.

The commander was worried though. What if this doesn't go right? What if they can penetrate the armour? What if, what if. So many questions. But it was no time to get stuck in anxious self-criticism and questioning now, it was time to win this battle. She didn't want to lose, her perfectionism stopped her from doing so. No, they would win.

The KV drove into the town, Ina outside of the cupola, looking around. Nothing, no one to be seen.

The KV drove into the town, Ina outside of the cupola, looking around. Nothing, no one to be seen.

"They're hiding well", the commander thought. "But we'll find them soon and look harder."

They drove further into the town, still no tank to be seen. But they must be somewhere here.

BOOM.

Shots behind them. "Quickly, turn the tank, Satomi, let's go back around!", Ina commanded.

The tank had turned, but it was too late. The enemy tank was already gone when they got in the area where the shot came from. Ina heard another shot, from where they just were, and another from their west. They were surrounded, it seemed. She got out of the cupola to spot, but didn't see any tank.

She heard a shot close to her, it landed in front of the KV-1 and threw up a lot of dust. Ina was getting confused, anxious and didn't know what was going on anymore. How many were around them? Four? Five?

As the dust cleared, she looked around. No tank to be seen. Anxiety started to build. She went inside the tank again, incredibly anxious. Ina started stimming heavily, trying to lose the stress. But it wasn't working. So many thoughts and questions were going through her head, so quickly, that the stress of keeping up with them was too much for her.

Then she heard 4 shots in rapid succession, in the distance.

"Ram to KV, we've been taken out, flanked by 4 Chihatan tanks.", she heard in the radio.

The commander was getting even more confused, even more questions, even more stress. She felt like she had to cry and wanted to run away. Run away to safety, loneliness, a place where she could cry silently to herself. But she couldn't. Minutes passed with her on the brink of tears, completely overwhelmed.

"Ina? Are you alright?", She heard someone say faintly, barely hearing anything anymore because she was so stuck in her own head. "Ina?"

Someone shook her out of her thoughts. Satomi was asking her questions. "Ina? Are you alright?", Satomi asked again.

"Uh, yes. I was just thinking about what to do.", Ina responded, not realising tears were running down her face and that she had been stimming so hard that everyone was distracted by it. But time was ticking. It was six versus one, and they couldn't win this in this town.\

"Drive onto the fields to the east of the town. We can't end this in the town. Noriko, take anyone out you can see.", she commanded, having regained some semblance of strength. But she didn't have any. She was completely exhausted mentally and had lost all hope too. They had lost this match. All was over, they couldn't turn this around.

As they reached the edge of the town, Ina could see four of the enemy tanks driving down the hill, including the commanders Chi-Ha. "Noriko, two o'clock, four enemy tanks.", she informed Noriko, unable to command anymore. "Fire at will", she added, almost whispering.

The tank rocked a bit. A shot had been fired at one of the Chi-Ha and Noriko hit it perfectly in the suspension; it was taken out.

"Could you load the the Armour Piercing, please", Noriko asked the loader, Yume. Another shot was fired, another tank went down. Ina still didn't have any hope, soon enough they would be close enough to take out their KV.

BANG. A shot bounced off the rear of the KV-1. They had been surrounded. Satomi turned the tank, angling it against the tanks coming down the hill, and Noriko turned the tank towards the one that shot at them. Another Chi-Ha down. Three left. Ina hadn't been commanding anymore, she had been completely silent, thinking and hating herself.

Another shot bounced off the front of the tank. A tank was coming from the side, right of them and was hit expertly in the suspension by Noriko. Just two left, charging right at them. However, Ina didn't know all looked out of the cupola to see what was going on, and could see Kinuyo, so close had their tanks come to them. The Chihatan commander didn't look too happy. Why wouldn't she be happy? They were going to win? Ina looked around. Two tanks down on the field, two in the town. Did they just take out four tanks? Maybe they had a chance at winning this after all!

Noriko fired again, Ina could see the shell hit another one of the Chi-Ha. Only one left. It was one versus one now. Ina got out of the cupola as the enemy commander's tank fired at them, barely missing the KV-1's tracks. They were getting too close.

"Full gear forwards.", Ina commanded, trying to get closer to Kinuyo. A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one, after all.

"Noriko, wait until I tell you to fire.", she commanded the gunner.

"One chance to win this. One shot. One.", The commander thought.

Still outside the cupola to have a better view, she saw that there was only around five hundred metres left between Kinuyo and her. She waited a second. The Chi-Ha fired another shot at them, barely missing them and hitting the ground behind the KV-1. Ina waited some more. Almost there.

"Fire!", she commanded ten seconds later. However, the timing was bad. They had just passed over a bit of ground sticking up, causing Noriko to shoot over the target because the tank moved up too much. The Chi-Ha fired. But this time, they hit. The right track was blown off. The KV-1 couldn't move anymore. Ina saw the Chi-Ha pass them from the same side as the track was blown off.

"Quickly, turn the turret to the right!", she commanded

But it was too late. The Chi-Ha had turned around already and right behind them, and fired a shot into the engine. And when the dust cleared, a flag appeared from the KV-1. They had been disabled. The match was over. Chihatan had won.

Kinuyo got out of her Chi-Ha and walked towards the KV-1. Ina, realising the Chihatan commander wanted to talk, quickly got out too. She didn't know what the opposing commander would say. Did she have something to tell? Or did she just want to brag? No, she didn't seem like someone to do such a thing.

"This was your first time, right?", Kinuyo asked. "You did very well, especially considering your lack of experience."

Ina wasn't sure how to respond to this. She never got any compliments from anyone.

"No, I didn't do anything, the crews did everything. I didn't shoot the shells, drive the tanks, or anything like that.", the slightly smaller Ishikuma commander responded, wondering if she should tell about the fact that mere minutes before she was a crying wreck, ready to run away. Kinuyo could probably see she did, her eyes must be very red from all the tears.

"So, the reason I came to talk to you.", Kinuyo started talking again. "I had fun talking to you earlier and you are a good commander." She paused for a second. "One of my friends recently told me about this 'Internet', where you can talk to people over large distances."

Ina started blushing a bit. Kinuyo didn't notice however. "So, I was wondering if I could add you on the internet, so we can talk?"

Ina was silent in shock and excitement. Did she just make a friend? She never had a friend. What should she do? Be happy? Kiss them? Jump around? Act cool? So many thoughts, but she did nothing.

"Oh. I see. You don't want to.", said Kinuyo, disappointed at the lack of response. "I'm sorry for asking.". She then turned around, ready to walk back to her tank.

"Wait!", Ina quickly said, before Kinuyo walked away. "You can add me".

"I'm sorry for not responding.", she quickly added.

Ina and Kinuyo talked for another minute or two, before Kinuyo had to go back to the tank. Ina was so happy, she could jump in excitement. Her first friend. Her very, very first friend. She couldn't wait to talk to Kinuyo again.

An hour later, when all the students of the sensha-dou class had been regrouped, a teacher had an announcement. A big one.

"Kobayashi Ina will be commander of the sensha-dou team, due to suspension of the two other candidates. They got themselves taken out on purpose to make Kobayashi-san lose the match. Both of them have been suspended for the rest of the year from participating in sensha-dou."

Ina was shocked about the announcement. She was commander, not because she did well, but because the others tried to sabotage her. She didn't know how to take this. She was very much stressed by being commander, and the only reason they did well is because the rest of the team acted independently from her when she was having a meltdown.

But she was commander of Ishikuma's Sensha-dou team now, and she would fulfill that role best she could. She would give it more than her best, together with Yume, Noriko, Yuuki, Satomi, and all the others. Another match was planned, initially to see who would become commander, but now simply as practice. Their next opponent would be Saunders. And this time, they would win…


	4. Chapter 4: Ooarai War

**Chapter 4:**

The training had just ended, and it was time to go home. It had been two weeks since the match against Chihatan; tomorrow there would be another match against a different school. The winners of last year's national championship: Ooarai Girls' High School. Many of the girls, especially Miho Nishizumi, had become famous after their unbelievable and unpredictable victory. And Ishikuma had to face off against them. Ina wanted to win the next match, but she was unsure if she could beat such a fearsome and skilled team. Luckily, Ooarai didn't have a lot of tanks, and they agreed to bring only 5 tanks to the match.

Ina was thinking about what to do in the match when she heard a sound coming from her phone. It was a message from Kinuyo, with whom she had become good friends ever since the match. She informed her she would watch the match vs. Ooarai, although she wasn't sure who to cheer for, as both Miho and Ina were good friends of hers. Ina didn't know what to think of the fact that Kinuyo would watch. On the one hand, it was great that she would be able to see her again. But Kinuyo would most likely just see them get crushed under the strong, experienced and well-commanded tracks of Ooarai.

Ina thought again about last match. She had a meltdown mid-match, when it was most important for her to be in command. Is she truly a good enough commander? She didn't win out of skill, but because of the suspension of the other participants. No, she's not fit to be a commander. Someone else should have won. How would she be a good commander if she couldn't even keep herself from having a meltdown during matches?

" _Ishikuma's BT-7, disabled! Panzer II H! SU-122! Ram II! KV-1! Crushing victory for Ooarai!"_

" _You fucking idiot Ina, this is all your fault! You ruined it! You're the worst commander!"_

" _Can't you act like a normal person for one second? Take this, you bitch!", a girl said as she threw Ina on the ground and started kicking her. A dozen or so kicks later, she finally got to Ina's head, and smashed it into the ground._

And that is when Ina woke up, sweating, breathing heavily, crying, hugging her boko very tightly. It was just a dream. A very bad dream. But a dream, nonetheless.

A headache started building, after Ina had cried so much. She wouldn't be able to sleep with such a bad headache. It was dark and Ina wasn't sure if she had any paracetamol or anything to help with the headache. She tried to find any, but due to lack of sight, fell over her little table she eats dinner at and fell on the ground, head first. "Great, that'll help with the headache", Ina thought, with the headache now so strong she was completely distracted by it.

She stood up and sat down on her bed. Maybe she could get some paracetamol at her psychiatrist, in the morning. She looked at the clock: 1 AM. She had slept for barely 3 hours, and she likely wasn't falling back asleep soon. Ina lied down, and started thinking. Thinking about being with someone. Maybe she could find someone who could help her with the situation soon, or perhaps she had already met them, and didn't know. Soon though, she was back asleep, so lost in her thoughts that she forgot about the headache.

"Ina.", Satomi said. "Ina, wake up!", she repeated, slightly louder this time.

Ina, however, was stuck in her deep sleep.

"INA!", she screamed at her.

Finally, Ina started waking up.

"Ina, you're late! We need to go! It's 10AM already!".

Ina quickly put on her clothes and ran as quickly as she could to the place where the team would meet up, before disembarking for the match.

Ina could see the large Ooarai carrier. Ishikuma had one of the smallest carriers in the entire country, because of it's small student base of only 600. This meant it didn't need as much crew, living quarters, etc. as the larger schools; thus, the carrier could be a lot smaller. As the KV-1 drove off the carrier, into the harbour, Ina could feel the cool, autumn wind blowing in her hair, driving into a beautiful town, filled with brightly coloured leaves. It was one of the best sights in the world; she loved autumn.

The match would start at 1PM, they still had two and a half hours to get ready. Ina decided to go into the small seaside town the match would take place. She hadn't had breakfast yet, and it likely wasn't too good an idea to go into a battle without eating beforehand.

And so she went into the town, to a small restaurant that was serving food that looked like tanks as a stunt for the upcoming match near the town. Ina sat down, and ordered some food.

"OH MY GOD IT'S SO CUTE!", someone shouted excitedly. "Isn't it, Nishizumi-dono?!"

" _Nishizumi? Nishizumi Miho? The Ooarai commander!",_ Ina realised, just before sitting down somewhere.

She was in the same restaurant as her opponent. She looked at them. There were three of them. What to do? Should she greet them, ignore them? No, greeting them would be the polite thing to do. Ina stood up to walk to the girls.

"Those clothes… those are the clothes of Ishikuma.", she faintly heard the other of the three Ooarai girls say. fifty meters left.

Or was it more? Or less? Ina didn't know. She saw the Ooarai commander turn around, looking at her. Ina blushed a bit.

"Oh, are you from Ishikuma?", Miho asked.

"Umm...Yes", Ina responded, blushing even more. She was right in front of a celebrity, one of the best commanders in the world. "I'm the commander of the team. Kobayashi Ina."

"Nice to meet you!", the girl responded somewhat excitedly. "I'm Nishizumi Miho, this is Akiyama Yukari and that is Reizei Mako", she added.

"Nice to meet you too." Ina responded, blushing slightly less. "I noticed you were here and wanted to greet you."

"Sit down with us!", Yukari told her. Ina obliged, and sat down down next to Mako. "So in what tank do you sit?", Yukari asked before Ina even sat down properly.

"KV-1, it's a ru-", Ina attempted to say, before being interrupted by Yukari.

"That's one of my favourites.", she said excitedly.

"They all are", said Mako in response to Yukari.

Ina looked over at Miho, who seemed to be thinking deeply. Then Miho looked up, as the waiter started giving them their food. There were 4 tank shaped buns, all shaped like Panzer IVs on Ooarai themed plates.

"I wonder who they're cheering for", she whispered sarcastically.

"Itadakimasu!", the four girls said in unison, before they started to eat.

Ina liked the food. It was pretty well-tasting.. It was awkward to sit down with a bunch of girls she didn't know and which she would have to face in just a couple of hours.

"How did you become commander?", Yukari asked. "You seem a bit young. Are you from a famous family, like Nishizumi-dono?"

Ina blushed when she realised what Yukari just said.

"No, I'm not. I just happened to become commander when the other competitors for the position were disqualified", she responded.  
"Why were they disqualified?", Miho asked.

Ina took another bite before responding. "They threw the game in an attempt to make me look like a bad commander. A match versus Chihatan. We lost because of it."

"They don't deserve to be commanders anyway, in that case. That's not how a commander should act.", Mako argued. "A good commander always plays fair."

"No, a good commander always wins.", the Ooarai commander responded.

"A good commander cares about their crew.", Yukari said. "So Nishizumi-dono is an amazing commander!". Miho blushed a bit when she heard her greatest fan say that.

Ina was thinking. " _I play fair, but I don't always win. Am I good to my crew?"._ She wasn't sure.

The girls continued talking and eating for another thirty minutes, and walked to the place the match would take place together. Ina liked the Ooarai girls, and had completely forgotten she'd have to face them in just an hour. But she did not want to do so, she wanted to spend more time with them. She liked Miho a lot, even if she was a bit shy while she was there. But now Miho went from friend, to enemy. At least for the next couple of hours.

The match was about to start. The greetings had been exchanged, and the teams had gotten into their starting positions. All they were waiting for was the sign the match had started. Five Ooarai tanks, The Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausführung H, Jagdpanzer 38 (t) "Hetzer", Sturmgeschütz III Ausführung F, Type 3 Chi-Nu and the fearsome Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger" (Porsche), versus the five Ishikuma tanks.

One notable advantage Ishikuma held was a greater amount of light tanks compared to the Ooarai team. That should be used to the best possible advantage later in the match. The first thing they would have to do was create an advantage though, as the Ooarai team held a massive advantage in firepower and armour, even with the lack of a numerical advantage, as they have 2 strong medium tanks, two very good tank destroyers and a great, fearsome heavy tank that completely outclasses the KV-1 in combat.

The flare was fired, the sign the game had started. The Ishikuma tanks started driving forward, towards the enemy. The battlefield was a large, flat plain with a small hill in the middle, barely twenty metres high, but high enough to stop the other team from seeing across the entire field. Ina could flank through the forest, or she could charge straight into the Ooarai lines. They'd probably expect them to flank them. Maybe she could use reverse psychology, Ooarai expecting them to flank, and as such preparing for that, but actually having Ishikuma face them in a head-on charge, and as such flanking them like that. Although it might just be a suicidal charge into the enemy. It was a risk they would have to take to be able to win the match, as they would never be able to defeat Ooarai in a prolonged battle.

Ishikuma kept driving forwards as fast as they could, having traversed 40% of the distance between them and Ooarai. They were now at the foot of the hill.

"Tanks, stop.", Ina commanded when they were halfway to the top. "Panzer II, go forwards, stay low. Try to see where the Ooarai tanks are.

Thirty seconds later, when they reached the top, she heard back from them. "We can see the Ooarai StuG side-on, going into the forest. The other four are a bit further back. None of them seem to have spotted us. Permission to fire?"

"Permission to fire. Aim for the StuG's engine. After the shot, reverse off the hill to avoid being shot.", she responded. Another three seconds passed, and Ina heard the shot of a cannon. "The StuG has been taken out, we have retreated successfully.", the Panzer II's radio operator responded. Ina was delighted. This match was off to a good start. Maybe they could win this.

"Tanks, forwards, Take up positions on the hill. KV-1 on the front, Ram and SU-122 flanking it and the Panzer II and the BT-7 firing from behind cover of the heavier tanks.", Ina commanded.

And so they did. Ishikuma held the hill and had a numerical superiority.

"Fire at will", she ordered, as she got out of the cupola for a better view of the battlefield. Shells were raining down on the Ooarai tanks. Many hit, but they didn't do any damage at these distances. However, that didn't matter to Ina. What she wanted to do is take out the Ooarai tanks as soon as they got in the effective range of Ishikuma's guns. A dozen shots had been fired, and finally a tank had been taken out. The Chi-Nu had been hit expertly in the suspension by the Ram II.

However, Ooarai suddenly stopped all their tanks. And then they fired. Two of the shots hit their target; the SU-122 was taken out, and another bounced off the angled front of the KV-1. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to push forward after all. But Ina didn't have the time to think it through, as the second round of shots was fired. The BT-5 was taken out from behind the Ram II. Ishikuma returned shots; The Hetzer was taken out. It was three versus two, and the match had gone on for barely ten minutes. This would be a short match. Another barrage of shots, the Ram II and Panzer II were hit. It was two versus one. Two more rounds of shots were fired by Ooarai and the two remaining Ooarai tanks started moving forward again.

Ina looked in the crew compartment again, and saw Noriko read a book for fifteen or so seconds, before putting it down and aiming. "Load APCR", she requested Yume. a couple of seconds later, she fired the shot. Ina looked outside: the Tiger had been taken out. "How did you do that? They have two hundred millimetres of frontal armour!", Ina asked Noriko excitedly.

"I just hit the bit with only eighty millimetres of armour on the side.", she responded.

" _A one versus one again. Just like last match against Kinuyo, but this time, we will not lose."_ Ina thought. The Panzer IV fired another shot at the KV-1, bouncing off it again. But soon they'd be close enough to get through, no matter the angle of the armour.

"Noriko, you have one shot. Make it count. I believe in you.", Ina told her gunner.

The tank bounced back a bit due to the recoil of the shot. Once the smoke from the blast cleared, Ina could see it. A white flag sticking out of the Panzer IV.

They had won. Ishikuma had won. For the first time. And it was against the national champions of sensha-dou too! Ina couldn't believe it. They had actually done it! How to feel? Glad? Happy? Relieved?

Ina and the others got out of their tanks. There was happiness all around her.

"We did it Ina-chan!", she heard Satomi tell her excitedly. "We won!"

Ina joined in on the excitement too. They did it. What did Kinuyo think of the battle? Would she be disappointed by the length of the battle, or rather, the lack thereof?

As the match was over, and the tanks reorganised themselves near the tents set up for the battle, Ina looked around. She saw Miho talking to Kinuyo. Should she approach them? Or would Miho rather not speak to her? Would it be rude to interrupt them?

Ina walked towards them anyways, even if it's just to talk to Miho for a second.

Kinuyo, probably hearing Ina's footsteps in the grass, turned around to face her.

"Ina!", she heard Kinuyo say excitedly, just before the slightly taller Chihatan commander hugged her for a couple of seconds, before she quickly stopped doing so, blushing a lot. She probably realised Miho was still there. She heard Miho laugh awkwardly behind her.

"I-I'm sorry Ina for doing something so embarrassing to you.", Kinuyo said, before making a quick bow.

"It's ok, Kinishi.", Ina responded. Kinishi was her nickname for Kinuyo, as her last name was Nishi.

"No, it's not. I need to do something for you to truly show my apology.", she told her friend. "I know, I'll make you dinner! And Miho too! Your friends can join too. A large dinner party!"

"That sounds fun!", Miho responded. "We'll help with cooking.", the ginger quickly added.

"And so will we.", Ina said, not wanting to make the others do all the work.

 **The dinner will be in the next chapter, because I want to make it quite long.**


	5. Chapter 5: Ooarai Dinner

"Ok. Dinner. What to do. What do I take to the dinner? What kind of food will I make?" so many questions, so little time. But Ina had to do one thing first, gather up the others. Who to go to first? Maybe go alphabetically. Noriko first? Wait, let's see… A, B, C… M, N. Yes, Noriko first. But where did Noriko live again? Maybe she should call her. Or maybe go to someone else first? Satomi? Yume? Yuuki?

Ina sat down, wiggling her feet. Go to Yuuki, then? Or Yume? So, so many things she could do. Maybe she should just not go, say she got ill. But she wants to be friends with Miho too. Maybe she should ask Satomi, she knows best.

No, she shouldn't. She needs to become independent from Satomi, not even more dependent upon her. It's time to do something, without her. Alone. Everything alone. She'll cook alone. Well, with the Ooarai girls, but not with any of her closest friends.

Ina stood up, and walked to the nearest supermarket; buying all kinds of food: meat, vegetables, fish, spices, sauces. She didn't know what she would make yet, though. A lot of different dishes, or one big one? She had enough time to think, it would take at least an half hour before she was at Miho's house. These carriers are massive.

She decided to text the girls while walking towards Miho's house, just having left the carrier. Nothing fancy, just the time and place of the dinner. Time to pick up the pace, it'll take a long time to get to Miho. She's not even half-way, the Ooarai carrier is just that massive. Then she saw someone walking to the carrier. She was not sure who it was, but she recognised the rough body shape.

As they got closer, she realised who it was; it was Yuuki. Ten kilometres left between them.

That doesn't sound right. It's probably less. A kilometre? A couple hundred metres, perhaps.

"Hi Ina.", she heard Yuuki say, weakly. "I'm sorry. But I need to talk to you.", she quickly added, before bursting out in tears. What was going on? What to do?

"Did I do something wrong?", Ina thought. No. Don't think, it's time for action.

Ina put an arm over Yuuki, looking around, seeing a bench some distance away. "What happened, Yuuki?", She asked. Ina didn't like seeing Yuuki in such a state.

"One of the Oaarai girls said and then she and she was mean and she hurt me…", Ina could barely make out anything from the things Yuuki said, "And she called me a 'stupid waste of human resources who should never have been born, be-because I'm in Ishikuma, and…", Yuuki started crying really hard, into Ina's shoulder. They had finally made it to the bench, so they could sit down.

Ina wasn't sure what to do, Yuuki seemed really upset about all of this. What should she do?

"It's alright. She's gone now.", she said, hoping to comfort Yuuki. "I'm here. You'll be safe from her." She hugged her tightly. Yuuki was still crying into her arm. Ina felt weird, she had a feeling of happiness that Yuuki was crying into her. Because it meant that Yuuki trusted her.

Seconds passed, and seconds turned into a minute. A minute of nothing, no sounds except the wind blowing, the waves crashing into the dock and Yuuki crying. Ina wasn't sure if she should talk. Maybe Yuuki liked the silence Ina offered, she was a shy girl and very silent, after all. Or maybe she's disappointed by the lack of questions, and her not trying to find out what happened.

"Which one of the Ooarai girls did it?", Ina finally asked.

Silence. Yuuki responded with silence, a deafening silence for ten seconds. "One of the little ones. I don't know which tank she is in.", she finally said. A first year student? Ina didn't know, but she wanted to protect Yuuki from the girl. Maybe even get revenge. That girl never will hurt Yuuki again. Never.

But Ina had to go on to Miho's place, she had a lot to cook. But leaving Yuuki alone in this state was not an option. Should she take her to Miho? Maybe Yuuki could help her with the food... But it may not be the best time to suggest such a thing. Maybe Yuuki needs some time on her own, and doesn't want to go to the Ooarai carrier after what happened. Or, alternatively, it would be a good thing to go to the Ooarai carrier and show that it's just the one girl? Miho seemed quite nice, and so did the other two girls.

"Umm, Yuuki?", Ina asked, regretting it immediately. "Do you want to go to Nishizumi's house with me?". She didn't know how Yuuki would react, but she should ask anyways. She'd rather know for sure.

"Ok.", Ina didn't know why Yuuki wanted to join her, but was glad the girl did. She stood up, and gave her friend, on who it was still very visible she had cried, a big hug. It was time to move on, or she'd be late to make the food.

"Should I ask about what exactly happened before the Ooarai girl got so mad? Or will that just make Yuuki sad again?", Ina thought, considering the consequences of such an action. "Or should I tell her about how good she is at her job as a radio operator? That might be a nicer thought for her." Ina took up the pace, Yuuki seemingly enjoying the silence. Ina didn't know why, but she wanted to protect Yuuki. She felt like Yuuki was like a little girl who needed help, even though she was older than her by months and the same height as her.

They had been walking for minutes now, and they finally reached the Ooarai carrier. Ina was still silent, not knowing what to say. But perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. She enjoyed the silence. But it was time for it to be broken, not by her, but by a certain black haired girl with a armband that would make you think she was a Nazi, followed by two of her friends, with the same hair-style, boasting the same armbands.

"Who are you, why are you here?", the girl asked them, seemingly angry.

Ina was shocked and didn't know what to say. Who were these people? Did they do anything wrong?

"Umm, I'm Kobayashi Ina, and this is Kita Yuuki.", she said nervously, not knowing what would happen. "We are here to visit Nishizumi Miho.", she quickly added, realising she also had to respond to the second question.

"And why should we believe such a thing? You could be spies!", one of the girls behind the girl said. "Yeah, how do we know you aren't spies?", the third one added.

Ina didn't feel comfortable being interrogated like this by these weird nazi girls. What did they want anyways? Maybe Ina should just walk on and ignore them. Yeah, that might be a good way to deal with the situation.

"Yuuki, follow me.", she said, however it sounded more like a command. Ina walked onto the carrier and just walked past the weird nazi girls with Yuuki, and continued on going to Miho.

When the girls were far enough away from the nazi girls, who were pretty upset, Ina started talking.

"They probably are some girls acting tough anyways. Nothing to be afraid of.", she told her friend, who seemed to be scared of the girls. They walked on towards Miho's house. They would be there in minutes now, she hoped. But then the realisation came: Yuuki still didn't know about her plan. Should she tell it to her? She'll know it now or in a couple of minutes, anyways. Maybe Yuuki can help, she'll have to do a lot.

Ina looked at a map: almost there now. Just a couple more corners to go around, one or two streets to cross. It was time to tell it.

"Yuuki? Do you want to help me cook?", she asked, when she realised she couldn't hide it any longer.

"Umm… yes.", Yuuki answered, silent as ever. Ina knew that Yuuki rarely showed any positive emotions and wasn't surprised by the lack of visible enthusiasm.

Finally, the two Ooarai girls arrived at Miho's apartment. Ina knocked on the door. Seconds passed: nothing. Seconds turned into a minute, and the door still hadn't opened. Ina worried if she came at a bad moment and Miho was away. She waited another minute, and Miho still hadn't opened. It seemed that she really was away, perhaps at the store or something.

"Let's go and wait outside until Nishizu-", Ina said, before being interrupted by the door swinging open. She saw the Ooarai commander, smiling at her, hair still wet and clothes put on hastily.

"Oh sorry, I didn't expect you to arrive this early.", the girl said, still somewhat tired of having to hurry so much. "Umm… come in. Your friend can enter too!".

"I-I'm Kita Y-Yuuki.", she stuttered. "N-Nice to m-meet you."

When Ina walked into Miho's apartment, she noticed it was smaller than hers; a lot. Of course, some students at her school had problems with claustrophobia and other needed quite extensive medical equipment, so rooms were bigger to allow for those things, but this room was really small. She couldn't imagine eleven people in here! That wouldn't go well at all.

Small tables, a TV, a computer, dozens of books, and some old bokos flanked by some newer ones. Her apartment seemed to be small but very personalised. Seeing this made Ina feel closer to Miho; she had shared a little part of her. Ina's apartment however, felt empty and devoid of character. She was hiding her books, her miniature tanks, her posters of former national champions of sensha-dou in their heyday, many of them now old and have given in to their bodies becoming used and deteriorating in physical capability.

Miho was her most recent addition to that collection; the chosen one to lead Ooarai to victory despite all their disadvantages, and in the meanwhile defeating her own older sister. A great triumph that no one could have expected, one to go down in memory for years to come. If Miho could take a school of inexperienced girls and lead it to victory, she should surely be able to take a school with experienced members, combined with some good tanks and do the same? Ishikuma had beaten Ooarai once already, maybe, just maybe they could win the tournament. She'd be amongst her idols, she'd have achieved something with her life. Her life would have some meaning…

"Kobayashi-san? Is something wrong?", Ina suddenly heard, being broken out of her thoughts. Ina put her hand on the back of her neck.

"Oh, yes, I am. I was just thinking about our match. I had a lot of fun!", she said.

"Is this appropriate? Does she want to talk about the match she had just lost? The Nishizumis are quite known for not being able to handle losing…", she thought.

"Oh, we had too!", the ginger said, really comforting Ina. Perhaps Miho was not like the other Nishizumis. Not obsessed with fame, glory, a victory streak lasting a thousand years.

Ina put her bag on a table and looked at Miho: the sun slightly above the girl, reflecting off the water in her short, ginger hair. It was a truly beautiful sight to see. Miho was truly beautiful to see. She then took out her vegetables and started cutting some for the dinner. Yuuki silently went along. Ina had trouble understanding Yuuki, it frustrated her. She didn't know what to do, if Yuuki liked her at all, if she wanted to go home. Her face was so awfully neutral and she never saw even the slightest amount of difference.

Ina saw Miho walking back into the room from the bathroom, she had tidied up a bit. She was even more beautiful than just minutes before.

"Is this normal? Am I normal? Why am I having these desires?", she thought. "No, this can't be right. I can't be in love with Miho Nishizumi, can I? Is this love? Is this what love feels like? No, it's not time to think. It's time to cut vegetables."

She had been cutting vegetables for two minutes now when Miho joined in, standing next to her. Ina looked at her, blushed, laughed awkwardly and went back to cutting.

"Is something wrong?", Miho asked.

"Oh god now you've done it Ina. She knows! What to do, what to do.", she thought.

"It's just that I've always looked up to you and now I'm here, cutting onions next to you." Ina said, barely being able to keep her eyes off the orange-haired girl next to her, elegantly using her knife with her soft but firm hands.

"Oh, that reminds me of Yukari… except she seems to love me more than looking up to me.", the beautiful Ooarai commander responded.

"Shit. She has someone else already.", Ina thought. "Or does she? She never said she also loves her. Perhaps it's a one way thing. Perhaps this is a one way thing…".

"Yukari was one of the girls I met this morning, right? She seemed pretty excited about the match.", Ina responded. "Or was she the sleepy one? I'm not too good with names."

"The sleepy one is Mako.", Miho responded. "Yukari is the excited one. The only thing she loves more than me, is tanks."

"Probably not as much as I do… for my entire childhood I've loved tanks. I've been bullied for liking them so much.", Ina said. "I wasn't even sure if I wanted to take up sensha-dou when I got to high school. I was scared of tanks. Or rather, of liking them.", she continued, almost cutting into her finger.

"I didn't want to take up sensha-dou anymore when I got to Ooarai. Thankfully, my friends talked me into taking it up again. And I love doing it.", Miho said, smiling with a small tear in her eye. It seemed that she was happy.

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Oh, they must be here already!", the ginger suddenly said, excitedly walking towards the door. Who was there? Ina looked at the door, wanting to see who is there.

"Hello there Miporin!", Ina could hear. "Miporin?", she thought, not sure who that was. She could see the Mako girl standing next to the other girl, who Ina could barely see because Miho stood in front of her. She must be a good friend of Miho though.

The two girls entered, and Miho walked towards the two Ishikuma girls, still preparing their food. "This is Kobayashi Ina, commander of Ishikuma, and this is Kita Yuuki, a friend of Kobayashi-san.", Ina could hear Miho introduce them to the two girls. "Nice to meet you, Kobayashi-san and Kita-san! I'm Takebe Saori and this is Reizei Mako!", the girl said.

"Hello.", Mako added, clearly not wanting to talk. Five people were in this apartment and it already was practically full, how would they fit another six in?

"You're adorable, you know that?", Miho's fellow ginger friend told Ina, making her blush. "You must be plenty popular at Ishikuma, and get all the guys!", she continued. Ina blushed even more, never getting any compliments about her looks. Was she really adorable like this Saori girl said?

"Thanks!", she responded. Should she compliment Saori back? Yes, she should.

"You look good too, Takebe-san."

A couple of minutes later, more knocks. Isuzu Hana, Akiyama Yukari, Nishi Kinuyo. Still no Ishikuma girls, as Ina noticed, much to her delight. One more hour until the dinner would start; and aside from Yuuki, everything went according to plan. Ina opened up the gas and started cooking. Plenty to do, so many people, talking and sounds all around her. But it didn't bother her, like it usually would. Was it because of the situation? Or was she just ignoring it? Perhaps she's overthinking it. She has a tendency to overthink everything.

Cooking, cooking and more cooking. How many minutes have passed? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Ina didn't know. She only knew she was almost done. Seeing the eight girls prepare the dinner was something beautiful; Hana making flowers, Saori cooking and Yukari making ice cream. Miho was setting up extra room to eat on, Mako testing the comfiness of Miho's bed and Kinuyo just helping everyone a bit.

As the last three girls arrived at Miho's apartment, the dinner could finally start. It was half six; Ina had been cooking for almost three hours. The thought of finally getting to eat excited her, having made eleven plates of the dinner her mother always made; chicken mixed through baked potatoes and lots of different kinds of vegetables. Ina thought it was delicious… she hoped the other girls would think it was too. What if they didn't like it? What if they thought it was absolutely disgusting? No time for those thoughs. Puppies, hugs and comfy blankets. Other happy things.

Ina sat down; Satomi and Kinuyo sitting next to her and Miho across from her. Next to Miho sat Mako and Yukari, those being flanked by Saori and Hana respecitvely. Yuuki and Noriko sat left of Kinuyo, and Yume right of Satomi. The "tables", as far as you could call them that, some of them were plastic boxes that were used when Miho moved into the room and one of them used to have a PC on it just an hour ago, were completely filled with all kinds of food and decorations. The food Ina made, flowers Hana had prepared, some kinds of soup, some pre-warmed food Mako had put in a microwave at the last moment after Saori told her to go make something.

"Itadakimasu", the eleven girls said. Saori, likely the only extrovert sitting at the table, was the first to talk. "I hadn't heard of your school until our match, could you tell me about it?", the ginger asked the Ishikuma girls.

"What do you want to know? The school, the sensha-dou te-", Satomi responded before being interrupted by Yukari. "Tell about the sensha-dou team, please.", she said.

"Our sensha-dou team is relatively young, only a decade or so. We were supposed to be one of the thirty two schools to participate in the national sensha-dou championship last year, but couldn't enter because your school took our place. We've had plenty of battles outside of that though. We lost most of them…", she told, the other girls listening or eating. "This is the first time we'll be participating in the national league, but we're likely not going to win. You're the only major school we've ever managed to beat. The other ones just beat us easily every time."

"You almost beat us.", the Chihatan commander responded.

"We beat half your team because of our armour. no other reason.", Satomi said after taking a bite of her food. "And even then it was because your tanks don't have the best guns. If they were a bit better you'd have completely crushed us. Saunders, Kuromorimine, Pravda; they'd all have beaten us. And those are the kinds of schools we'll have to fight soon…", she said, a little bit depressed.

"Armour insufficient. Guns insufficient. Remember. Need to fix to win.", Ina thought. "Don't worry so much Satomi. Remember that we thought we'd be completely crushed by Ooarai? We won instead.", she said. "Even if it was a pyrrhic victory. We just need to do our best."

"Never give up, sometimes you do win.", Miho told the Ishikuma girls. "We also won against all odds. We should have lost to Kuromorimine, Pravda and Saunders.", she continued.

Ina shook her head in agreement, they can win. They will win. She'll show the world she's not useless. That she's not a failure. That she's a success, a hard-working girl who can get things done. Even if it'll cost her her sanity for the time being.

Many other conversations happening all around them, the girls finished their food. The dinner had taken more than a hour, but Ina didn't dislike a single second of it. She's learned a lot from Miho. Miho was not only beautiful, she was intelligent, funny, wise. She had added the girl on the chat programme, and she was excited to talk more to her. However, the best part came from Isuzu Hana, the student council leader; Ooarai had a KV-1 in the past, and they still had some twenty-five mm armour plates for it lying around taking up space. This would increase the KV-1s hull armour to a hundred millimetres. And they got it for free, as it took up space Ooarai needed. Their automotive club delivered it to Ishikuma's carrier. Was the armour situation fixed now? Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe she should fix the gun situation, Ishikuma had a lack of guns that really packed a punch...

A school in Australia had also closed and they put up a AC IV "Thunderbolt" for sale. It was a medium tank designed and built by Australia, with strong angled frontal armour and the fearsome British 17pdr gun. They got it for almost nothing, although it needed some repairs. But after a couple of weeks it was ready for combat. And so was Ishikuma for her very first tournament. First opponent: St. Gloriana.


	6. Chapter 6: Madness

_Author's note: Sorry for the long time it took to make this chapter. If it seems a bit messy and like it was written over a long period of time with style changes between certain paragraphs; that's because it was. I was a bit distracted from writing doing other things but I eventually ended finishing this chapter today, even if on a point where the story should logically continue. That's to be a bit of a tease, really. I hope these things aren't too annoying, but I'll be trying to start writing again._

* * *

Ina sat down after a long training session, and checked her phone. She had missed a lot of messages. She had made a group for her friends; a lot of people were in it. It seemed to be mostly Saori talking to the other Ooarai girls. The ishikuma girls tended to stay silent, preferring to talk little. However Ina was quite active. She enjoyed talking to people like this. The amount of control, the lack of body movements she otherwise had to take look after, it all comforted her. That all allowed her to talk more freely.

Tommorow would be the day. The very first match. it was against St. Gloriana, a strong school focusing on heavy tanks supported by light cruiser tanks. Their Churchill Mk. VII would definitely be a tough nut to crack, with it's almost inpenetrable 152 millimetres of armour. They'd have to get on it's side to be able to get through it's armour. Did they even have a gun that could go through it's frontal armour? Perhaps the AC IV's 17pdr could, at very close ranges. One, two hundred metres perhaps? Those are dangerously close distances. No, they would have to take out the tank by it's sides. Not an easy mission, but as it would likely be St. Gloriana's flag tank, it would be the only way to win.

The 25 extra millimetres of armour had proven to be very good for the KV-1. It pushed the armour to a point it could stop almost any gun; especially the British ones. St. Gloriana had a firepower problem; their guns tended to lack against enemy heavy tanks. If Ishikuma angled it's armour, St. Gloriana would have serious trouble penetrating their tanks. Especially the KV-1 and the AC IV.

A night passed, and it was the day of the great battle. Ishikuma's first official match. Hundreds of parents, teachers, medical staff and students had gathered for the match. It would take place in a foggy, hilly forest with lots of chokepoints. It would be horrible for the enemy heavy tanks, while Ishikuma only had to worry about the KV-1. But they could manage without. It was faster than St. Gloriana's heavy tanks anyway, the Matilda IIs especially.

Ina walked over to the St. Gloriana camp in order to greet the opposing team's commander before the game. It was not part of official sensha-dou rules, rather it has become some sort of a tradition to do so. Is her posture right? What should she say? How will they react? She started to bite her nails. Perhaps they won't like her. Some schools are quite hostile to Ishikuma. Is St. Gloriana one of them? They may be.

As she got there, she noticed it was a bad time to come over. They were all drinking tea. She could see the tanks; one Churchill, five Matilda IIs and four Crusader IIs. Perfectly lined up, ready for battle. Onwards she walked, to the multitude of tables placed there, with dozens of girls sitting around them. One of the girls; Darjeeling, former commander of the sensha-dou team, was sitting near three other girls wearing the St. Gloriana Sensha-dou uniform. They seemed to enjoy themselves. Ina walked over to them, Darjeeling should know who the commander is.

Ina put on her best posh accent, prepared for some extremely polite and refined talk and was ready for talking to the girls. She hoped.

"Excuse me. May I ask you a question?", she requested of the girls.

"Of course you may!", one of the girls responded in perfect English, in an accent as posh as it can get.

"Umm, who is the commander of the sensha-dou team?", Ina then asked the girls.

"I'm Orange Pekoe, commander of St. Gloriana. Nice to meet you.", a small blond-haired girl said, sitting next to Darjeeling. It seemed like they were close friends. "And these are Darjeeling, Roseship and Ceylon.", the girl added. Ceylon was the girl who talked to her in English. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm the commander of Ishikuma's sensha-dou team.", she said awkwardly. "Are you enjoying your tea?", she added, trying to start a conversation.

"It's splendid. St. Gloriana makes tea that's almost as good as real, proper, British tea.", Ceylon said in rather broken Japanese. It seemed that she is English in origin.

"Ah, nice to hear that. Now, I beg your pardon. I will stop bothering your high tea.", Ina said in English to the girl. Unlike most Japanese people, Ina could speak fluent English; she had learned it as a little child doing research on tanks. Ina also had some level of competence in German, as she learned a bit of it to study German tanks. However, this has also lead to some… less wanted results. "Ich bekomme immer einen großen Kampfwagenkanone von dir ;)", was one of the messages a German exchange student living in Japan sent her. He made a lot of these kinds of comments, but she had grown to accept it. She didn't want to hurt him as she was his only friend. So accepting his comments was just part of it.

Ina walked back to her team. The match would start in an hour. Time to get ready, mentally and physically. She should eat something before the game starts. One of the sandwiches she had prepared for lunch had disappeared just five minutes later, thus reducing the amount she had to two. How many minutes left? Forty five? Forty five minutes… she didn't feel like talking to any of her teammates, and neither did they, it seemed. Ishikuma was a school with a very introverted student body, and the extraverted ones seemed to concentrate themselves into groups with their fellow extraverts.

Ina sat down and took out her phone; perhaps she could chat with others. Kinuyo? No, she has her own match today. Miho? She's watching the match, if she wanted to talk to her she should go to her. She decided to talk to this one guy, one of the nicest people she has met. A foreigner, never having lived in Japan, but yet they met online on a forum. He seems to like her a lot, perhaps a bit too much. So did she, often finding herself smiling while chatting with him. Ina didn't know why, but she liked him a lot. Perhaps it was the similarity in personalities between them. Whatever it was, they were really close.

Chatting with him, time always flew. Minutes would feel like seconds, and hours like minutes. Soon enough Ina had been disrupted from her fun chatting though.

"Ina, get ready! We will exchange greetings in 5 minutes!", she heard. Time to get into the KV-1 and drive towards the place where the starting ceremony will start. The first official one. And not the slightest bit of anxiety. She was confident that Ishikuma was able to win this battle, with some good tactics and gunnery.

Ina was completely taken away with all the little details of trip through the forest. Every little animal sound, every branch they crushed, the relief of the ground, she noticed all of it. But soon enough they got to a decently sized clearing in the middle of the forest, just large enough to do the greeting. It was routine; the commanders meet, shake hands, they do the greetings with all the participators and then they go to the starting positions.

As the shot signifying the start of the match could be heard thundering through the forest, terrifying a lot of animals there. Ina was a bit spooked by it too. The very first official match had started!

The tanks moved forwards slowly, crushing saplings, branches and probably some bugs too, birds flying all around and hills being crossed. But despite this they would still be going faster than Saint Gloriana. What tanks did they have again? A Churchill, some Matildas, perhaps a Valentine or a Crusader…

Ina looked over to Yume. " _She seems off. She has never stimmed this much. Is she alright?",_ she thought.

"Yume?", she asked. "Are you ok?".

The girl was startled. "Y-Yes! Of course!", she answered. However, Ina could just not believe it. "Are you sure? You don't seem so."

"I really am!", she responded. But it was still really hard to believe. But usually she wouldn't lie so brazenly. Something to keep track of during this match.

Little happened for minutes, yet everyone was alert. Not for enemies, but for bumps in the road. You never knew what would happen. You go up a bit, slowly and then BOOM. You're on the ground again.

Suddenly a shot could be heard and Yume suddenly pulled Ina towards her. The girl was crying, hugging Ina tightly. "Ina, I want to go home. I can't do this. I'm going to have a breakdown." She said. More shots could be heard, and with every shot Ina was hugged tighter.

"Umm… It'll be alright. Let's switch places, okay? I'll do the loading and you'll have all the time you need." The commander offered. Yume nodded, moving over to her new position whilst still crying.

Suddenly the tank was hit yet not taken out. But Yume lost her balance, hitting her head on the KV's steel armour. Ina saw it happen and quickly went over to help Yume, maneuvering in the tight confines of the steel tank. Now it was their turn. The KV-1 fired at something. But at what, she didn't know.

Another shell hit the tank. Probably the two pounder guns, Ina thought. Yuuki pulled her leg.

"The BT, Panzer II, Ram and SU have been taken out. St. Gloriana still has three heavy tanks remaining."

And then she also remembered that she had to reload. The sound of her stimming could be heard throughout the tank.

Outside the tank, a large gun could be heard firing. Perhaps the Thunderbolt? Or was it the Churchill. Then the sound of a flag popping. Ina had no idea what was going on at this point. But they were done for. More shells hitting the KV-1 could be heard. The constant hits and the slow realisation of her failure, of her friend crying, of ruining it for her team hit her hard. Eventually the heavy tank was taken out, ending the match, and the tournament, for Ishikuma.

Ina leaned back a little, sitting down on the floor of the tank in tears. It was all true. She always ruined everything, she never did anything right. Her crewmates were talking to her, but she didn't respond at all. She just sat there, hiding her head in her legs, and cried, and cried, and cried...


End file.
